Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - When the Cicadas Cry

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a fantastic murder mystery and horror anime whose deceptively childish appearance is just part of the true horror

By ONOE, LaughingMan, and Kenny Farino

• Introduction by LaughingMan
• ONOE's Review
• LaughingMan's Review
• Kenny Farino's Review

Introduction by LaughingMan

The year is 1983 and five childhood friends live in the small rural village of Hinamizawa. They all attend the same school and enjoy playing board games, partaking in competitive challenges with one another, and attending the annual Watanagashi Festival. The long summer days for the five friends are care-free and innocent.

But then, something goes terribly wrong…

ONOE's Review

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni was originally developed as a Japanese murder-mystery sound novel produced by 07th Expansion. A Japanese sound novel or "drama CD" is much like a video game, except that instead of controlling characters you are shown scenes, you hear music and voices, and you read text like a book. I think that 'sound novel' is misleading when it is really more like an interactive story-book.

But I digress.

The anime series based on the sound novels was produced by Studio Deen and directed by Chiaki Kon and covers the four question arcs as well as the first two answer arcs. The original Higurashi no Naku Koro ni anime adaptation aired in Japan between April 4 and September 26, 2006, comprising twenty-six episodes. In Japan, most of the characters were voiced by the same voice actors that voiced their respective characters in the drama CD series.

The title "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" translates to "When Cicada Cry", which comes from the mournful chirping sound cicadas make in the late summer. This fiendishly clever show retells the story of the town Hinamizawa and the bizarre murders that take place. The main character, Keiichi, has moved into the sleepy little town and things seem to progress smoothly and positively for him as he makes friends and joins an after school board game club. However, as he learns more about the town's dark history of murders during the annual Cotton Drifting festival, his asking questions result in increasingly disturbing answers. Ultimately, Keiichi fears for his life.

The story is retold differently with every story arc which presents a different view of the same general events. The re-tellings are character-dependent which develops the characters and makes each story vary from one another to the point where even some of the facts of the case are called into question but nevertheless provides clues to the overall mystery. I suggest watching Higurashi one plot arc at a time so dedicate about two hours in the middle of the night, turn off the lights, and prepare to get creeped out.

What makes Higurashi no Naku Koro ni so disturbing is that it contrasts a light-hearted childhood comedy with visually gruesome and deep psychological horror. The result is similar to taking a comedic slice-of-life anime like the Melancholy of Harsh Suzuki and crossing it with Silent Hill. The result is a very contrasting, surreal anime, most notably during the murderous conclusions of the arc which then starts again very bright and sunny.

The girls in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni steal the show, primarily because there are so few males in the spotlight. The first is Rena, a cheerful but quirky girl who is prone to violent mood swings. There is Mien, the leader of the game club and tomboy who has a secret crush on Keiichi and wishes that she behaved more feminine towards him so he would think of her as more than a friend. Stoke is a practical joker who has a long history of tragedy and abuse. And finally there is Rika, the town priestess who seems to always know more about the events of the Cotton Drifting festival than she appears.

The animation in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is far from polished, but the style does convey a more lighthearted and comical anime series than it actually provides. But it's not all good. A lot of the creepy scenes are ruined by some very comical 'Troll Faces' (scary distorted faces) that does seem to unintentionally ease a lot of the creepy ambience and steals away some of the drama. The voice acting sounds extremely good in the Japanese audio, with what I would consider to be great voice-to-character matching.

Controversy against Higurashi no Naku Koro ni was inevitable after a girl murdered her father with an axe in the same time frame as the first series' television run. Many television networks stopped broadcasting Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and in its foreign releases, the cover art was designed to prevent accidental sales to unsuspecting children and parents.

Regardless, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is widely praised for its complex and twisted story, and in the following year Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai was released to wrap up the entire drama CD storyline and answer many of the mysteries. A five OVA (Original Video Animation, aka 'Direct to DVD') series was released titled "Rei" which contained side stories based on the content of light-novels. A full-length movie based on the first story arch was released in Japan on May 10, 2008 followed by a sequel in May of 2009.

Playstation 2 Higurashi no Naku Koro ni opening

Playstation 2 and Nintendo DS adaptations of the original drama CDs was released with updated images, more voice acting, and additional story arcs to the original series.

It was announced last year that another pet project by 07th Expansion, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, would also be made into an animated series. Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When the Seagulls Cry) which is not set in the Higurashi universe, still manages to deliver another unique murder mystery experience. The series wrapped up in late December of last year and, having seen the series, I would actually recommend it.

For those of you who want the FULL Higurashi no Naku Koro ni experience, MangaGamer is localizing the Higurashi PC games that inspired the series for the US market.

http://www.mangagamer.com/allages/Title ... n-they-cry

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni left a deep impact on me so it is a no-brainer that I have pre-ordered my copy. How about you?

LaughingMan's Review

For those of you who are expecting an off-the-wall rant or cynical review, you'll have to re-read something else. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (or 'When the Cicadas Cry') is deserving of nothing but my praise. There will be little funny about this review of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, as it rightly should be.

I can't remember exactly how I came across Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. I believe it was one of those acts of fate where you stumble upon something that, while not 'life changing', still manages to leave an imprint. I was browsing one of the written posts for an online comic I used to read and my eyes stumbled upon the writer's ecstatic remarks regarding what he called 'one of the best stories' he ever came across. Since I was bored at the time, I began downloading the WIND fan subbed series to kill time. What I found was an anime that I not only liked, but an ingenious story that literally shook me to the core.

I've made my negative opinions of anime very well known in my prior Devil May Cry and Demonbane reviews, but anyone who knows me knows that I praise a well-told story. Complex stories and character development are my cocaine, regardless of their medium, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni provided me one hell of a fix.

After the dreaded Demonbane review -in which I lampooned for being the WORST of everything anime after their complete bastardization of the works of H.P. Lovecraft- I was presented with a second challenge by ONOE: To finally review the one single anime that I honestly enjoyed.

To quote ONOE:

That is why I wanted you two to review Higurashi because I have a feeling that Demonbane gave you negative impression of anime as a whole and I wanted you both to see that there are some good ones that people in the states and elsewhere never see. I hope your reviews of Higurashi changed your minds about the anime stereotype.

It probably won't. Stereotypes are never 100% conclusive, but without a common trend among a demographic, there wouldn't be a stereotype. Hence, I still think that 99% of anime is pure bullshit. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is the pleasant exception.

Still, along side Kenny Farino and ONOE, I'm accepting not only this challenge, but this privilege.

It will be hard to praise everything about Higurashi no Naku Koro ni without giving away too much of the plot, but I will try to keep this review relatively spoiler-free with the exception of some MILD SPOILERS involving character motivations that will be required to explain just how ingenious Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is.

STORY *SPOILER FREE*

It is 1983 in the small rural Japanese village of Hinamizawa. Maebara Keiichi, or just 'Keiichi', is a young man who has moved with his two parents to Hinamizawa for complicated reasons. Maebara Keiichi is an excellent student and possesses a great deal of natural charisma that quickly earns him the friendship of a small group of girls roughly close to his own age: Ryuugu Rena , Sonozaki Mion, Furude Rika, and Houjou Satoko. The four girls have formed an after-school club where they partake in various board and card games; to keep the games interesting and competitive; the loser of a game is submitted to a usually humiliating, but harmless, punishment by the winner. The four girls invite Keiichi to join their club with the intentions of both strengthening their new-found friendships, and to occasionally gang up against Keiichi in the club games.

Satoko and Rika. Examples of how the very bright and sunny animation style of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is deceptive.

However, the care-free and innocence Maebara Keiichi finds with Hinamizawa and his new friends begins to take a darker turn with the coming of the Watanagashi Festival: A town festival where everyone praises the town's deity, Oyashiro. The festival itself is full of food, games, and ceremonies, but it is the events after the festival that has gripped the people of Hinamizawa in terror.

On the night of Watanagashi, and every year for the past four years, someone gets murdered, and another disappears.

• During the first year, the manager of the controversial dam construction was brutally murdered and dismembered, and a worker went missing.
• The second year, a head supporter of the dam and his wife fell off a cliff and down a waterfall, but only the man's body was ever found.
• The third year, the priest of Oyashiro's shrine dropped dead and his wife drowned herself in the swamp. Her body was never found.
• The fourth year, a housewife was found bludgeoned to death and her nephew went missing.

This year will be the fifth year of Oyashiro's Curse.

The storyline of the first season of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is divided into six chapters, or 'story arcs' each consisting of an average of four episodes. During the course of an arc, the story seems to follow one of the main characters up until the day of the Watanagashi Festival. Normally the character and his or her friends are depicted simply as children enjoying their childhoods by playing games, riding bikes, and whatnot.

...Then something goes horribly wrong.

Each of the children has a dark and troubled past (or 'skeletons in their closets'), and, as the story progresses up towards the Watanagashi Festival, a single event or a slight disturbance that disrupts the friends' lives will snowball into paranoia, madness, violence and murder. The inevitable conclusion is no less than a violent tragedy for both the character in focus and his or her friends.

This is considered a MILD spoiler.

When one arc ends, the story repeats, but the next time with another character in focus, and a different chain of unfortunate events are played out specifically for that character. And, with the closing of each arc, a mystery from a previous arc is answered, but yet another mystery is left in its place. At the end of the series, it is up to the viewer to play detective and attempt to solve the mysteries of Oyashiro's Curse.

CHARACTERS

The following is a list of the primary Higurashi no Naku Koro ni characters. If foreign names are hard for you to remember, then Higurashi no Naku Koro ni makes it easy by color-coding the characters by their hair. Only the basic information for each character is visible below, but additional information (WHICH DOES CONTAIN SOME MILD SPOILERS) is available by clicking on the red text under each brief biography.

IN DEPTH

The story arcs of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni seem to follow a pattern: They usually start off very aloof and care-free, which establishes the characters, their innocence, and their relationships to the others. Then, an insignificant event occurs which triggers some dark remembrance of their pasts or something even darker within themselves. Eventually the character is forced against a wall with a situation that they can't handle, and, paranoid and possibly delusional, the character determines that violence and murder is the only plausible way out. The downward spiral continues as their paranoia gets the better of them and leads them down a self-destructive path. In the end of the nightmarish tale, the main character usually dies, but not before leaving a trail of blood in his or her wake.

To realize the purest horror of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, you must re-read the paragraph above, but replace every occurrence of the indifferent word 'character' with 'child'.

These are CHILDREN (possibly between 8 and 15 years of age) who are subjected to these torments and nightmares. Even worse, the horrific events that had emotionally scarred the children are not fanciful or overly fantasy-based, but are instead real-life evils: Bitter divorces, bullying, heart-break, and physical/emotional/sexual abuse. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni never attempts to disguise these facts from the viewer, and it only amplifies the chilling events that occur as a direct result.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is brilliant in the way it sets up its mystery. To keep it simple let's use the following example of how the plot works: Imagine having five or six semi-completed puzzles that you are piecing together. Then you notice some similarities within the separate puzzles, and begin to disassemble the individuals and reassemble them to create a single puzzle, or a complete truth. That is why the theme of overlapping timelines and different events that occur therein is brilliant in its own right. Seeing multiple interconnected stories and various outcomes helps keep the mystery relatively fresh and exciting because you end up seeing some of the faint similarities from story arc to story arc, and can thereby piece the puzzle together to form a complete view of the whole truth imbedded within. From what I've read, a lot of people think that the plot to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is convoluted and over contrived, but to me that is part of the fun of solving a complex mystery. A lot of people have no mind for a good mystery, and would rather be spoon-fed answers, but I enjoy spending a great deal of time playing detective. Also, I am surprised that such a metaphysical concept of having alternate timelines and events hasn't been utilized in more mysteries, but I am equally as glad it isn't popular enough to be abused.

The arts of deception and misdirection play key roles in the series. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's biggest deception is fairly easy to spot: The character design is so overly childish and innocent that the prospect of a darker story is in itself unnerving. The character designs are not dissimilar to what I would assume are similar to more child-friendly animes, which not only lowers your guard and your expectations, but only makes the horrific acts and stories of the actors in these tragic plays that much more poignant and terrifying. Another prime example of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's use of deception involves the interactions of key characters and how a few of them seem to manipulate the others throughout the series, as though deliberately pointing them down a path of ruin or redemption. Whether or not such deceptive behaviors are intentional or are themselves part of a character's delusions is an outcome you must determine for yourself.

As for misdirection, a statement or an event (taken within a certain context) can support the rationale of a character's motives, it is instead taken in an opposite (but equally as justifiable) direction that often only further confuses an unstable character and heightens the problem within a given story plot. The most prominent example of the effectiveness of misdirection is within the Third story arc with Keiichi's memories of the events on the night of the Watanagashi Festival: If you pay attention to every action Keiichi has taken (the prime example being the number of holes he dug and the locations in which he dug them), you can easily discover that his perception of that nights events are entirely creditable and that Mion, Rena and Rika are trying to provide Keiichi a false alibi. Instead, the conversations and events are lead in an entirely different direction because of the paranoia that is muddling Keiichi's own reasoning and memories.

Finally, the story draws you into the minds and the twisted logic of each of the characters. Many movies and stories that do a mediocre job of developing characters leave a sense of disbelief to a viewer or reader. Thoughts like "I wouldn't do that" or "why did they do that" usually rear their ugly heads when the viewer can't get into the mindset of a character. By developing the characters from the ground up in every arc, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni really pits you in each character's mindset where you not only familiarize yourself with the characters, but you will also find yourself believing that their courses of action are somewhat justified, and it makes the consequences of those drastic actions that much more unbearable. You also develop a sense of tragedy and pity on even on the characters that commit the most heinous acts because you sense that they were cornered into committing those acts of violence.

A FEW PROBLEMS

Nothing is ever 'perfect' and to be honest I have a few gripes about Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

Prime example of 'Anime Retardedness'

The biggest gripe is that what I call 'anime retardedness' is front and present. 'Anime retardedness' is by my definition sequences of extreme animation where to heighten some sort of moment or to emphasize a joke, the animation becomes overly dramatic, or it degrades into an overly comedic look. Thankfully, I can't complain about this too much in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni because such moments are reserved for the more lighthearted and (rightfully) childish segments earlier in each story arc. Since the scenes actually add to the warmer atmosphere (unlike the other 99% of anime where it's there as a stupid gag) and they help ease some of the tension caused by the horror and violence, so I'll give Higurashi no Naku Koro ni a free-pass.

Why does Higurashi no Naku Koro ni get a free-pass and not, say, Demonbane? Because:

1. Demonbane is irredeemable and a bastardization of H.P. Lovecraft's work.
2. The anime retardedness of Demonbane doesn't contribute ANYTHING to the story or atmosphere; it is just used for cheap gags.
3. I'm a dick. Fuck off.

While the second season, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, wraps up the story nice and pretty, there are still a lot of loose-ends that are never accounted for. Some relatively 'spoiler-free' examples include the missing notes behind the clock in the first story arc, and a few of the reactions to Keiichi's memories of the Watanagashi Festival in the third arc . While they are relatively minor to the overall story, I still think that everything should have had some relevancy and all loose-ends should be tied up nicely. However, a second way to look at it is to go back to the 'multiple puzzles' analogy I gave above, and figure that when combining separate puzzles to form a larger truth, some pieces are up for forfeit, and it is up to the viewer to weed them out.

THREE SERIES

After the inconclusive cliff-hanger of Season 1, I had already successfully fingered the culprit and formulated a loose motive, however there was still much that was unexplained. My hunger for the missing answers was finally quelled when Higurashi no Naku Koro ni returned with Season 2, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai.

Kai starts off with where Season 1 left off, more or less, and it expands on the mystery and finally begins providing more answers to a few of the unexplainable events. While still an excellent series and worthy of couch-detectives everywhere, I had already made my assumptions as to who or what was pulling the strings in the series and I was half-right. However, the half I was wrong about (which involves a seventh character) was somewhat anticlimactic. I don't want to spoil anything further for those who haven't seen the series, but for those who have, you know what I'm talking about. I felt that the inclusion of this character was sort of a cheap, out-of-left-field way to wrap up a majority of the unexplainable mysteries, but that was because it bruised my mystery-solving ego. I won't say that the final conclusion wasn't satisfying, because it was good to end the series on a high-note.

Season 2 came and went, and then there was word of a direct-to-DVD series being made, and I was hopeful that there would be a new conclusion that, without the censorship of the television series, would pull out all the stops. Imagine if all of the characters went insane all at the same time, and Keiichi had to save them all? Cool idea right?

So the new series was released as Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei and it was AWESOME!
...No, not really. It was disappointing at best.

Rei was three story arcs spanning over a measly five episodes and while only one of those arches had an air of mystery to it, the entire series didn't contribute to the story as a whole. Instead I believe it was just empty fan-service. In other words, if you skip Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, you won't miss out on anything at all. Think of it as a sequel to Indiana Jones or Star Wars where the whole movie is based on the characters doing something inane like going on a picnic or playing in a football game: It's nice to see the characters again, but it's a shallow experience best left to the creepy fan-fiction writers.

SOUND AND ANIMATION

I'm a fan of the opening music for all three of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series, though in order it would be the original, followed by Rei, and in last place Kai.

Opening theme for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

The original opening music carries an abstract and twisted electronic rhythm that sounds almost insect-like, and is fore fronted with an awesome piano piece that accompanies the chorus piece and then follows discreetly throughout. The surreal techno overlaid with a beautiful piano arrangement seems to sum up the theme of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni very well.

Opening theme for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

With Kai, we get a more generic 'pop' song and, while carrying a very depressing theme, sounds a little too mainstream for the series. Accompanied by the intro video, it does convey a sense of sadness and even hopelessness, but it doesn't have that twisted vibe that I feel it should have.

Opening theme for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei

The third series, Rei, carry's a lot of the same feeling as Kai's opening theme, however it is offset by a great wood-block piece that really gives the song a slightly sinister edge over Kai, but it is far from being on par with the original theme.

The end-tracks are slightly less memorable in my opinion, though honestly it's because I normally skip over them with the exception of the final episodes of the second series, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, when very important additional scenes are sneaked in after the credits. But still, I won't be positive or negative, but I'll just say that the themes are extremely slow, soft and sad.

The music and sound effects used within the individual episodes are extremely fitting and amplify the mood, whether it is a very light wind-instrument piece for the children playing, or a the dark and deep demon-chorus theme during the scenes of violence, madness and murder. The inclusion of the namesake Cicada chirping is a great added effect that seems to act as audible prophets of the dark deeds ahead. All in all, the music not only compliments the atmosphere but enhances it.

The animation quality varies dramatically in the first season of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. At some points the animation is well-shaded and the characters look great (usually during the very tense or ominous scenes), while other times the expressions of grimacing faces looks like pure crap. Those who have seen the series always point at the infamously bad 'Shion's ladder scene' for a prime example of horrible facial expressions, proportions and just an overall piss-poor job of managing their character designs. The second season looks considerably better with not only better animation, but a few re-worked character designs which produced an overall polished product. The improved animation style from the second series continues into the third series, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei.

English Dubs or Subs?

If you do choose to rent or buy the US releases of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, re-titled "When They Cry", then do yourself a favor and watch them with the original Japanese audio and subtitles. When I Netflix'd the first disk, I got though about HALF of the first episode with the English voice-overs before I felt physically nauseous and my head started throbbing like it was split open with a beaked-axe. Sure, I handled the violence of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni pretty well, but horrible voice acting that takes away a lot of the chilling atmosphere was something my stomach (and ears) couldn't tolerate. The English voice acting sounds almost mono-tone in comparison, and the use of slang terms like "whassap?":

1. Doesn't fit the time period of 1983, let alone JAPAN of 1983 where the show is based.
2. Sounded stupid after the second "Whassaaap?" Budweiser commercial, and it still does.

Stick to the Japanese audio, even if you *GASP* actually have to READ!

If you philistines can read the inane bullshit on your friends' Facebook and Twitter accounts, you can at least spend a few hours reading something interesting (outside of one of those booky-thingies that is...)

OVERALL

Horrifying, heartbreaking, and brilliant on so many levels. I can't say it any clearer than this:

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is, in my opinion, one of the greatest stories never told to Western audiences.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Never before has insanity been so much fun

However, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is not for everybody. The only people I can say should avoid this are those who are either squeamish, or just don't get off on horror and/or mysteries. As for everyone else who enjoys a deep, complex story or graphic horror, I can't suggest strongly enough that you give this a look. Even those who can't stand anime (like myself) this is a series you MUST see.

Click here to buy the box set of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry) from Amazon.com

Kenny Farino's Review

Oh great. Just when I thought I was done reviewing one shitty anime, you're seriously telling me I have to watch another one? What, is this one going to be about Mr. McTentaclerape breaking into the nearest grade school to cause havoc and battle giant robots made of pink dildos? -sigh- I hate anime, and despite the fact that people tell me an anime is good, I have a huge niggling suspicion that it may be shit, and I'm usually right. Nothing, I mean NOTHING, is going to make me change my mind-

... I apologize for everything I have said, Japan. Everything you make is not absolute shite aside from Ozu, Miyazaki, and Kurosawa, and I might be able to learn to love some shows in the anime world. I might be able to acknowledge that there can, in fact, be terrifying stories with deep character development and mind-blowing reveals. I might be able to... enjoy anime... just don't expect to have me bend over and give "Naruto" a blow anytime soon, mind you. I still hate 95% of anime, but I've finally discovered what the other 5% is made of with "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" (that's "When Cicadas Cry," for non-Japanese speakers or not ONOE). Anyway, on with the show!

Fear the cuteness! I mean it this time!

Synopsis

Basically, since I'll face the ultimate death penalty if I give away anything too specific, let me try to give you the rundown of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" in the most general way possible. We follow a group of friends in the town of Hinamizawa, Keiichi, Rena, Mion, Rika, and Satoko. Since repeating the same information twice is a bit silly, let's refer to ONOE and LaughingMan's segments on who the characters on, and what's going on. However, what bears repeating is the structure of the show: the anime is split up into different story segments every couple of episodes, the events taking place focusing on a particular character to further an important element of storytelling called 'character development;' the different characters are fleshed out, and you get nice, rounded people that you can relate to in the general context of the series. You see, solid characters make a great story because they're half of the important elements in storytelling. In some instances, like the Joker in "The Dark Knight" characters are sometimes the primary causes for a story to roll along, so with so many diverse characters in "Higurashi...", we have so many opportunities to create some suspenseful, scary shit! Without solid characters, you'd have an extremely boring story without any of the suspense or emotion.

Case and point.

The Good

One of my main loves for this show is the deceptively cute character design. From the beginning of the first episode, I was struck with the horrible realization that I'd probably be watching another crappy anime with annoying characters and stupid anime tropes, like cat girls, robots, or pedophilia. However, when things started to get insanely creepy and suspenseful around the final part of episode one, the cuteness quickly vanished, soon changing tone in such a way that made me stay glued to my Macbook for a week just to finish the series, much in the same way where the game "Darksiders" kept me glued to my Xbox and girlfriend's TV for 16 hours straight. The story was engaging, it was cool, and most of the annoying anime tropes are pleasantly absent from the equation. No, you won't get uncomfortable love stories between grown men and little girls, you won't get slow, drawn out fights that last for six episodes, etc. The transformation from cuteness to creepiness is appropriate but unexpected, and it made for some truly unnerving moments.

OHGODCREEPY

You know what helps make the creepiness creepy? The animators did a great job at setting the mood of the situations with their use of shadows and darkness; they manipulated the lighting and set design to great effect, using mise-en-scene to really help push it along as a moody, frightening series. You're probably asking, "What the fuck is mise-en-scene?" That's a style in cinema where the director creates a unique environment by manipulating lighting, sets, and actors in such a way that helps bring the situation and overall movie to life. In "Higurashi...", the deceptive character design made the situations even more horrifying than, say, the creators making the main characters LOOK like they were serial murderers to begin with. A certain sense of deception helps the mise-en-scene a lot in this respect. There wasn't any set in the series, with the exception of two (undisclosed) locations which will be a bit obvious after seeing them, that struck me as a place where horrible things could happen, and it was especially effective when you almost saw a shift from the 'normal' daytime world to an almost sinister 'otherworld' (to thief a Silent Hill term) that Himinazawa seems to take on for some people. What also helps is how they tastefully didn't show anything too graphic, which is also a plus in case anyone sensitive to actually seeing violence or gore wanted to see this. The worst you see is a mangled body, partially draped in shadows, in a large pool of blood. See, they also used shadows to effectively hide the most horrible parts that can be left to the imagination of the viewer, which is what made H.P. Lovecraft so damn effective in his day as a horror writer. If you actually saw the full detail of the violence, then it would be more like the "Saw" sequels and "Hostel" movies - shock factors but without genuine horror.

The sound design was also beautiful, since the music is appropriately creepy. The sound design helped elevate the horror to a new extreme, particularly when the more menacing aspects of the story come to rear their wonderfully ugly heads; whenever something bad is mentioned or happens, they play this creepy set of notes struck by a set of strings. Not only this, but when there's danger on the horizon for the sometimes unaware characters, the shrill cries of cicadas come screaming in, the sound design showing the audience that something isn't quite right (since the cry of cicadas is mentioned to be an omen in the very first episode). The story also doesn't get old for me because the segmented presentation helps keep things interesting; had they focused on one character for too long, it most likely would have lost its touch and made itself redundant; you can only focus on Keiichi for so long before his personality starts to grate on your nerves, right?

Case and point.

The biggest interest for me would have to be the actual mystery at hand. The Watanagashi festival and the "curse" of Oyashiro-sama is an ongoing event throughout the episodes, but the story changes with each arc so you really don't know what's going on until the very last episode, and season 2, which explains a lot of the mysteries. What particularly sticks out is the utilization of the subjective accounts of the different characters, and some sequences where you can't tell if the events were real or imagined. In terms of subjectivity, this is a common theme used in many forms of media to thicken the mystery at hand. For example, it was used in the classic novel "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", the tale about the town authorities trying to figure out the murder of Santiago Nasar. However, all of the accounts of the characters were confused and different thanks to varying factors like memory or time, and you never quite figured out the motive for murdering this innocent man. In "Higurashi...", characters act differently from arc to arc, and they have different thought processes that effect the outcome of the plot in that given story.

The barrier between reality and fantasy is also blurred, I believe, to thicken the plot and add to the insanity festering in the main characters, intentionally confusing the audience so the motives for the murders at the Watanagashi Festival are more ambiguous and less visible at first glance. In the context of "Higurashi...", this literary device is used by creating some events that may or may not have happened at all, giving the viewer another reason to watch the series to the very end. To give you a very vague example of what I mean: Person A might be conversing with Person B, but then he might find out they have been dead for some time. The question, then, arises: how was Person A talking to Person B, and is it relevant to the overall mystery? It's sure to confuse some, but it also heightens the thrill of 'the hunt' (so to speak) in trying to answer so many questions! I don't think I've actually come to a solid conclusion as to what's going on in terms of watching Higurashi for myself, but I still enjoyed the headache of trying to solve the mystery!

My headaches pretty much match this picture.

The Bad

My only real complaints about Higurashi is part of what makes it great, however. The structure, while it keeps the story fresh, completely throws the viewer off-balance if this is their first time watching this anime; you will have no idea what's going on, and it will confuse the fuck out of you as you try to figure out the mystery.You see, you're never quite given the cue that this is going to be a story with multiple segments at the very beginning, and when you eventually get to the second arc, you are going to assume that all of the stories are going to take place around the events presented in the first arc. However, when you discover that the characters who die in the first story are alive again in the second, you start to get really lost. I had the ever avid fan LaughingMan explain to me why the series is structured as it is, and this gave me an insight as to what's going on. However, it's when Rika-Chan says something very important in the final episode that you finally get a gist of what the hell the creators were going for. What I'm trying to say is to keep patient with it as you'll thoroughly enjoy the mystery as the series progresses.

Another nitpick is that one of the characters, Takano Miyo, seem perpetually stoned all the time. When she says something serious, I can't help but think one of the characters from Half-Baked were telling the stories she tells instead. This first stuck out like Hilary Clinton in a crowd in the second story arc, but I won't get terribly specific as that might spoil things for the potential audience if they are swayed enough by LaughingMan's review to see "Higurashi...".

"Oyashiro's curse is REAL, man!"

The Verdict

I really can't think of anything to complain about this time around the park; the story, atmosphere, and music is delightfully creepy, and the creators crafted it in such a way that won't get boring from start to finish. I can't give anything too detailed away, as LaughingMan urged me not to do, so I can only go so far as to comment on what I liked from a technical standpoint, as well as how well the creators of the series took care to add literary devices that would make the mystery harder to solve for anybody without a second viewing. I would heavily recommend this anime for any horror enthusiast, and for anyone who likes a good murder mystery! I do, however, heavily recommend that you watch the season a second time, and the second season, to fully have the experience in 'catching' the killer because you'll pick up on things you missed the first time. Just be warned, though: if LaughingMan catches you guys giving anything away in the comment section of this review, or anywhere else,... well, just expect to claw your throats out sometime soon...